From Bagpuss to Zebedee: classic British children's TV

Bagpuss was an old, saggy cloth cat – baggy and a bit loose at the seams. But Emily loved him. There were only 13 episodes of Bagpuss ever made, each set in Emily’s shop. The cloth cat came to life after she left, together with various other toys including Gabriel the toad, Madeleine the rag doll, Professor Yaffle the wooden woodpecker and the mice carved on the side of the 'mouse organ’. The series, created by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin, was first shown in 1974. It will feature in a retrospective of Smallfilms (Firmin and Postgate’s much-loved production company) at the V&A Museum of Childhood. The free exhibition runs from March 19-October 9 2016